Orchids and African Violets!

That was the name of the seminar I recently attended at Sargeant's Nursery!

It was a wonderful and informative one hour program!  Especially because I have collected 6 African violets and a few small variety orchids and wanted more information on care, etc.!  And it was fun to find a nice group of my garden club friends there also!

Yes, it was well worth my time, the instructor was wonderful, informative and inspiring!

What did I learn?  Well, African violets should be continually blooming if they are happy.  Happy means they are being watered carefully and timely when the soil gets dry and no water is allowed to get on the leaves.  Also let the water drain out the bottom of the pot and after a short  time remove the excess water that does not get reabsorbed up into the pot!  Temp. ideally is 65 to 75 degrees most of the time.  Lots of light, but no direct sun!  Fertilized every two weeks!  Propagating tips were offered, it has been awhile since I did that!  So, I need to increase my fertilizing schedule!  So, now my goal is to increase their reblooming and happiness!  

Now for orchids!  I am loving the smaller variety and would like to get into larger varieties and have them rebloom!  First step was learning how to select a healthy plant that will perform consistently!  That was great information!  Learning how to examine the root system was fabulous!  Again, like violets, no direct sun but lots of light.  Do not let set in water, so need to be sure to remove excess water in the pot soon after watering!  They love humidity, are a tropical plant, so misting is helpful during winter heating season!  Fertilizer, yes indeed being sure to use one labeled for orchids!  Water schedule is about every 10 days and add fertilizer every two weeks (March thru Sept.)!  Roots need air so the potting medium should be a special orchid mixture of bark.  Do not use moss, it holds too much moisture too long!   I did purchase an easy to use fertilizer, a spray, to use on the leaves!  How simple!

So, I ended up with some special bark potting medium, purchased a special pot with holes around the side which I used to repot a pair of small variety plants I had!  

Now to get on with my new watering and fertilizing schedule!  I so love how long orchids bloom!  My next goal is to get a full size quality  hybrid orchid to add to my collection!

Paths, more information

As a follow up to my recent posts on paths....

I found one more picture of a path I had taken this last year.....and then I discovered an excellent source of information on creating a path that I decided to share with you!

For more information on creating a Path CLICK HERE!

This is a free downloadable book on creating paths!

MN Winter Scene

Wow, what a beautiful world out there this morning in southeastern Minnesota! 

Fresh snow just sparkling with a blue sky background!  No wind, soft, white blanket of freshness!

I think my tree hydrangea is just as beautiful in winter as in summer!  Multi season beauty indeed!

This morning I looked outside and quickly stepped into some shoes and added a jacket over my nightgown, grabbed my cell phone and grabbed a few pictures of the trees I could capture from my front steps!

Touch of Spring!

We visited our local Home Show this weekend!  We have not done that for years so it was nice to become aware of all the new products and new ideas for new homes, remodeling projects, etc.   New patio ideas and displays included Sargeant's Nursery with some real live potted plants and flowers!  A welcome sight to enjoy in this MN February!

What do gardeners do in the winter?

Gardeners get together and have fun in the winter!

Our Shades of Green Hosta Society of SE MN does a few social events plus a good program speaker in Feb.!  

January we had a "Camp Lumberjack" event to share some great food, fun activities, socializing, win some door prizes, and even sip a few beverages while munching appetizers!

Everyone got into the "spirit" of the theme and there were lots of casual attire with plaid warm shirts and jeans!  I snagged an awesome door prize, a hand quilted table runner made by my favorite quilter artist!  (I have two other treasured runners she made)

A photo op was available for some fun memories!  

The axes were soft, made of fabric, and used in an axe toss game!

My door prize!

Happy Harry!

It's our turn for a snow storm today!  

It's only 10:30 AM this Sunday and we have 8.5 inches since early morning and there is more to fall yet!  Good day to curl up with comfort food and a good book!  Harry looks happy tho out there on our fence!  His view must be very pretty!  But temps are only in the mid 20's so maybe he is hopeful some birds will show up to take shelter in his house?

Along the Garden Path Part 2

Here are some more pictures of various types of garden paths I saw this last year.

Along the Garden Path Part 1

Are you planning on creating or remodeling a garden path?

This last year I observed a variety of garden paths while I was on garden tours.  When we created a path several years ago I selected base of River Rock path edged with smaller landscape timbers and have regretted it ever since!  The edging has worked great and is lovely to look at but the River Rock is not comfortable to walk on.   It just seems too much work to remove it and replace it with a pea gravel base, which would be so much more comfortable to walk on, etc.  I wish I had done more research before taking action!

Below is a garden path at our friend's home which he recently replaced the shredded mulch with small pine chips.  Reports are the pine chips stay in place even during downpours and not only look so natural but are comfortable to walk on and but stay in place without washing away!

With the current risk of using bagged shredded bark mulch imported from other areas of the country containing jumping worm eggs, many are changing away from using the popular shredded bark  mulch on paths, etc.